Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Sullivan.
Hi Michael, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I entered into acting as a lark, and I’ve just sort of clung onto the bottom of the industry like a barnacle. If you’ll allow me to mix up my animal similes in one sentence.
After spending 8 years in the military (soul-deadening, but financially successful) and 5 years as an entrepreneur (soul-filling, but financially hopeless), I thought I’d found my forever career in a boring industry. I was a director of revenue management for a business process outsourcing firm. See? That’s so boring that you’re not even going to look up what it means. Unfortunately for me, the company I worked for was swallowed whole by a national competitor. And that meant that I was on the proverbial unemployment line in the first quarter of 2023, a time when Meta and Google were also laying off literally thousands of employees, the many of whom were younger than I and, frankly, had done a better job of keeping up with their various program certifications. This left my prospects for finding a similarly compensated job on the West Coast… sub-optimal.
I love Los Angeles — it’s the best city I’ve ever lived in. But from a financial perspective, unless you’ve lived a charmed life, you go through savings pretty quickly without a job. So I decided I might have to pull a reverse Galadriel — diminish and go into the East. I prepared a bucket list of experiences that I felt I had to do before leaving L.A., and one of the items on that list was to see what it looked like to work on a large film or television show. I moved to Los Angeles in 2015, and I’ve loved films for as long as I can remember. There have been times earlier in my life when I’ve watched hundreds of films in a year. But I was totally ignorant of how they were actually made. I’d never even gone on a studio tour.
So in February 2023, I signed up for Central Casting. And luckily enough, I got tapped within a couple of weeks to work background in a couple of ongoing series: two episodes of Grey’s Anatomy and one of 9-1-1: Lone Star. And, listen, I can be a pretty cynical guy about a lot of things. But I loved every minute of being on those sets. I loved that there were hundreds of ambitious, creative people on set, all pulling toward a creative goal. I love learning new jargon. I love watching directors problem-solving on the spot as the weather and the clock and the budget conspire against them. I love watching veteran crew members who have the sort of intricate knowledge and attention-to-detail that you could only gain after spending decades doing exactly what they’re doing. When a DP looks at a tiny monitor (with an image that hasn’t even been color-corrected) and says something like, “We’re a little hot on his face right there,” and then someone else agrees and says, “Hey, let’s bring that light down to 14” (which is SUCH a specific number), and then that fixes the problem? C’mon, that’s like watching a spell taking place in real time. I love that they feed you on sets… constantly. (My doctor does not love this part.)
Above all else, I love other actors. Very few people are JUST actors, at least at the level where I tend to operate. Every week, I’m blessed to meet the most interesting, most creative people I’ve found in my life. They’re writers, they’re singers, they’re dancers, they’re models, they’re stand-up comedians, they’re directors, they’re producers, they’re painters, they’re designers. And yes, often we’re also bartenders and dog-walkers and substitute teachers and rideshare drivers and social media influencers, because — again — Los Angeles is a very expensive place to live and play.
I quickly archived most of my bucket list and decided to do whatever I could to spend as much time on set as possible. I have experienced a number of plainly foreseeable obstacles in making that dream happen. We’ll go into that in just a minute. But my solution has been to work with a sort of single-minded zeal for getting acting jobs. Every day, I self-submit to as many acting jobs as I can possibly see myself in. And not just in the usual outlets — Actors Access, Backstage, Casting Networks. I’m going far afield. I’m looking at Craigslist, I’m looking at Instagram, I’m looking at Facebook. I come home from 12 hours on set, and I’m up until the wee small hours of the morning (shout-out to Frank Sinatra) making 60 to 90 self-tapes every month.
That’s how we got to where I am today. Two years and two months into this journey, I’m a “working actor.” And I try to schedule *something* acting-related every day. Sure, it’s impossible to be on set every single day (unless you’re Eric Roberts), but I always want to have a table read, an audition, a rehearsal — something on the books.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I refuse to believe that a pursuit of the arts has been a completely smooth road for anybody. Admittedly I lack some of the attributes that might make the road a little less… lined with potholes. I’m not, to say the least, blessed with traditional movie star looks. And while I suppose I was in decent shape during my Army days, at this point my body resembles a rumpled old mattress. I can’t call upon the power of nepotism. I grew up in a town of approximately 360 people in rural southern Indiana; we didn’t even have a video store, let alone the sort of movie stars who would have appeared in films therein. I also lack professional training, and in terms of my natural acting ability… well, let’s just say the only things I have in common with the likes of Denzel Washington and Don Cheadle is my utter incapacity to speak with a convincing British accent.
So every time I get cast in something, honestly, it feels like a mistake, or a tiny bit of cosmic luck that has smiled upon me.
There’s an old expression: “If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” The saying was originally ascribed to Confucius, and then to Marc Anthony — I’ve never been clear on whether that’s the Roman general or the dude who sang “I Need to Know.” But I digress. I don’t think this saying is fully accurate. There are a lot of things that I love that I’d have gotten sick of over time.
Here’s what I think the saying *should* be:
“If you feel like you’re getting away with something, you’ll never work a day in your life.”
I’ve been in roles in which hundreds, sometimes maybe even thousands of people had applied for. And when Hour #14 rolls around, and I’m exhausted from delivering a line for the 19th time, I can honestly think to myself, “Do you know how lucky you are to be here? There are 70-some people with your name on IMDb. They probably invited you by accident. You are TOTALLY getting away with this!”
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Right now, I’m concentrating solely on acting. And I’m trying my absolute best *not* to have something specific within acting that I specialize in. Now sure, there are roles that it’s easier to see myself in than others. But I challenge myself to apply for pretty much any role wherein I fit the minimum criteria. Obviously I’m not applying for the role of Jo in Little Women or, for that matter, a reboot of The Facts of Life.
But I want to work in this field for a long time, and that means being flexible enough to do whatever is asked of me. So some days I’ll play a journalist, and other days I’ll play a murderous clown puppet. Sometimes I’m in the foreground as a cop, and other times I’m in the background as a criminal. What I’m proud of is my flexibility and my drive.
Now that’s not to say I have no other creative aspirations in this industry. In the past, I’ve written for several websites, a popular YouTube comedy series, and a couple of commercials. I intend to write a book at some point — but really, who in this town doesn’t have plans like that? I’ve also produced a talk show before, and I might find that interesting again, given the right circumstances. Production at that level really encompasses every aspect of creation, from writing to casting to negotiations. And, yes, like every middle-aged man in this country, I’ve podcasted before, and I haven’t completely gotten it out of my mind that someday I might podcast again.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/chiaone
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/misullivan
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/micsullivan?_l=en_US
Image Credits
Matt Kallish
